[Tony_M3]

I just wanted to create this thread to document some recent troubles I’ve been experiencing with my 6MT G80. I know of only a few other people that posted about similiar issues in another thread so as far as I know, I don’t believe this to be a widespread issue.

My car currently has less than 5k miles and has never been launched or tracked. About 1-2 months ago, I started noticing my car have some resistance going into 1st gear. Over time, this got more and more common to the point where I could not get into 1st gear without a workaround. It felt like the lever would just get stuck just before passing the gate. I’ve had this happen in previous manual cars before, but never to this extent. Going into 2nd gear and then into 1st seemed to work less than half the time. The only two workarounds that worked all the time are as follows:

1. Apply pressure on the lever forward into 1st as I let off the clutch and apply throttle. The car would then pop into first gear successfully.
2. If I was driving in 3rd (example) and coming to a stop: I’d push the clutch in, slow down to a stop, and then move the lever in 1st all without letting the clutch out. If I moved the lever from 3rd into neutral, let the clutch out, and then pushed the clutch back in and went into first, I’d have difficulty going into 1st.

I took the car into the dealer and they confirmed they are also experiencing the same issue. They’ve been running diagnostics on the car and said that they will either need to replace the clutch or transmission. Currently waiting to hear back as they work through what should get replaced. My guess is by the time they finish up their diagnostics, order parts, and complete the repairs, it will be at least 3 weeks.

I’ve been really bummed the past couple of days as I had some trips planned with the car that I won’t be able to do until this gets resolved. Although I’m a manual guy, I’m also having some buyers remorse about getting the 6MT instead of a comp with x drive. I’m just hoping that this was just a one off and the issue gets resolved when parts are replaced. The last thing I’d want to happen is for the car to drive fine for another 5k miles once repaired only to fail again.

Curious to hear from other 6MT owners (particularly higher mileage ones) on whether or not they’ve also experienced similar difficulties.

[JessM36MT]

Following this. I have a 6MT with 800 miles and haven’t experienced issues yet but your workaround #2 made me cringe if I had to do that for long stops and ride the clutch. Would have to replace the clutch much sooner anyway

Tony_M3 I know you mentioned 1-2 months ago, but do you know what approximate mileage you had before that? Mostly city? Mostly highway?

[Tony_M3]

Originally Posted by JessM36MT

Following this. I have a 6MT with 800 miles and haven’t experienced issues yet but your workaround #2 made me cringe if I had to do that for long stops and ride the clutch. Would have to replace the clutch much sooner anyway

Tony_M3 I know you mentioned 1-2 months ago, but do you know what approximate mileage you had before that? Mostly city? Mostly highway?

Yeah method 2 I would only use for short stops like if I was coming up to a stop sign. Mileage wise I’m guessing it started at around 3-4k with most of them being highway miles. There was another thread where someone was experiencing a similar issue and also reported somewhere around that mileage but they drove for a bit more before their transmission was replaced.

[GrannyShiftG80]

sounds like this

https://g80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1913329

[geko29]

Originally Posted by JessM36MT

Following this. I have a 6MT with 800 miles and haven’t experienced issues yet but your workaround #2 made me cringe if I had to do that for long stops and ride the clutch. Would have to replace the clutch much sooner anyway

To be clear, this is not riding the clutch. That would be if you were driving with the clutch partly engaged (slipping). That wears the friction disc quite a bit, and will also glaze the flywheel. Holding the clutch fully disengaged does not wear the friction disc at all. It wears the throwout bearing a tiny bit, but not enough to worry about. You might be talking a 9-10 year lifespan vs. 12-13. Most of our clutches won't last that long, and the throwout bearing would be replaced at the same time anyway, so it's not really anything to worry about.

None of that addresses the original problem that leads OP to using this workaround. Just noting that you don't need to be particularly concerned about wear associated with holding the clutch pedal down at a light.

[JessM36MT]

Originally Posted by geko29

To be clear, this is not riding the clutch. That would be if you were driving with the clutch partly engaged (slipping). That wears the friction disc quite a bit, and will also glaze the flywheel. Holding the clutch fully disengaged does not wear the friction disc at all. It wears the throwout bearing a tiny bit, but not enough to worry about. You might be talking a 9-10 year lifespan vs. 12-13. Most of our clutches won't last that long, and the throwout bearing would be replaced at the same time anyway, so it's not really anything to worry about.

None of that addresses the original problem that leads OP to using this workaround. Just noting that you don't need to be particularly concerned about wear associated with holding the clutch pedal down at a light.

Thanks, yea, I suppose I read his initial post differently as if they used it partial disengagement while in motion - ie purgatroy of my manual transmission world. Thanks for the call out because I was definitely not wanting to have to try that, if so.

OP if you find the other posts, feel free to link them here as I’m reading through some other threads for background info as well based on searches.

[TopJimmy]

I’ve seen posts in the F8X section on the same MT6 issue where 1st is hard to get into. In many cases BMW replaced the trans. In your case I would let them.

[bri1042]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

I’ve seen posts in the F8X section on the same MT6 issue where 1st is hard to get into. In many cases BMW replaced the trans. In your case I would let them.

Agreed. Almost 16k on mine and I haven't had any such issues in mine. This is absolutely a question of needing to use the warranty.

[ChrisM4]

Don’t worry, it’s under warranty and they’ll fix it. I’ve got 8000km on my ‘22 manual and it’s been flawless.

Good luck and hope they get the repairs done quickly for you.

[Nate.G82]

When I first got the car, I had a similar issue getting into 1st occasionally. I'm currently at 12.5k miles. Haven't really had that issue since about 2-3k miles. I noticed the only time it happens is when I didn't clutch in all the way before moving from neutral to 1st. I usually go back to neutral, clutch out, clutch in all the way, and then go back to 1st. The 1st>2nd>1st while clutch in does work as well. I have never experienced what you're describing in #2. Like others have said, I'd have the dealership check it out.

Sometimes I debate if I should get mine checked out, but I haven't had issues for the good part of the year so...

[Tony_M3]

Update:

After around 2 weeks of diagnostics, I got confirmation today that a new transmission has been ordered. Fingers crossed that this fixes the issue once and for all.

[cashsmoney]

I have to say they few experiences I had with BMW service they are on time of it, and don’t cut corners. I’m sure Its an isolated issue, it’s a imperfect machine made by imperfect people.

[Tony_M3]

Update (hopefully my last on this topic):

Received the car back today after a total 34 days of it being out of commission. Issue has been resolved with the replacement transmission. Overall the shifter seems to feel a lot less notchy and smoother to put into gear than how I remember it feeling before.

[Asindhidude]

Nice. Glad for results.

[nearwater4me]

Glad you got everything sorted out. Now you have a brand new transmission!

I've driven different brand's manuals from Honda, Subaru, GM, VW, Hyundai, to BMWs and the 6 speed in the F/G generations is my favorite (perfect balance of smoothness & mechanical feel).
I've had the grinding issue on my early build RSX-S and although I thoroughly enjoyed my AP2 S2000, I much prefer the BMW's shifter.

I hope you enjoy your shifter/transmission now that it's working as it's supposed to!

[DFW_M]

Originally Posted by nearwater4me

Glad you got everything sorted out. Now you have a brand new transmission!

I've driven different brand's manuals from Honda, Subaru, GM, VW, Hyundai, to BMWs and the 6 speed in the F/G generations is my favorite (perfect balance of smoothness & mechanical feel).
I've had the grinding issue on my early build RSX-S and although I thoroughly enjoyed my AP2 S2000, I much prefer the BMW's shifter.

I hope you enjoy your shifter/transmission now that it's working as it's supposed to!

I am with you. I have no complains about the BMW 6MT for daily use.

[JTO24]

I've had this issue intermittently on my car (15k miles here)... I've made my SA aware of it during my last visit although they couldn't replicate it. At least now it's on file so if it gets worse they have proof it was something I noticed.

Good to know they replaced the trans and didn't blame it on user error.

[Turbodu07]

Glad you were able to get that fixed!

8k miles on mine, flawless.

[Jim B]

I have 7900 miles on mine and no issues.

[TopJimmy]

Since it’s a new gearbox are you going to do any break-in service (just a gear oil dump/fill) at 600 or 1200 miles? Or just fageddaboudit because you have warranty…?

My car has the ZF8 so my dealership break-in only included engine and diff oil at 1200mi. I went ahead and changed those again at 2400mi by myself. At 5000mi I will pay the dealership to change out the trans and transfer case fluids. I tune heavy, so I need the extra prevention steps.

[Tony_M3]

Originally Posted by TopJimmy

Since it’s a new gearbox are you going to do any break-in service (just a gear oil dump/fill) at 600 or 1200 miles? Or just fageddaboudit because you have warranty…?

My car has the ZF8 so my dealership break-in only included engine and diff oil at 1200mi. I went ahead and changed those again at 2400mi by myself. At 5000mi I will pay the dealership to change out the trans and transfer case fluids. I tune heavy, so I need the extra prevention steps.

I believe my 1,200 mile break in also only included engine and diff fluid. I think the manual transmission fluid is “lifetime” fill according to BMW. I’m still TBD on whether or not I will change out the fluid of this new trans after a few thousand miles.

[alpinepuggy]

Originally Posted by Tony_M3

I just wanted to create this thread to document some recent troubles I’ve been experiencing with my 6MT G80. I know of only a few other people that posted about similiar issues in another thread so as far as I know, I don’t believe this to be a widespread issue.

My car currently has less than 5k miles and has never been launched or tracked. About 1-2 months ago, I started noticing my car have some resistance going into 1st gear. Over time, this got more and more common to the point where I could not get into 1st gear without a workaround. It felt like the lever would just get stuck just before passing the gate. I’ve had this happen in previous manual cars before, but never to this extent. Going into 2nd gear and then into 1st seemed to work less than half the time. The only two workarounds that worked all the time are as follows:

1. Apply pressure on the lever forward into 1st as I let off the clutch and apply throttle. The car would then pop into first gear successfully.
2. If I was driving in 3rd (example) and coming to a stop: I’d push the clutch in, slow down to a stop, and then move the lever in 1st all without letting the clutch out. If I moved the lever from 3rd into neutral, let the clutch out, and then pushed the clutch back in and went into first, I’d have difficulty going into 1st.

I took the car into the dealer and they confirmed they are also experiencing the same issue. They’ve been running diagnostics on the car and said that they will either need to replace the clutch or transmission. Currently waiting to hear back as they work through what should get replaced. My guess is by the time they finish up their diagnostics, order parts, and complete the repairs, it will be at least 3 weeks.

I’ve been really bummed the past couple of days as I had some trips planned with the car that I won’t be able to do until this gets resolved. Although I’m a manual guy, I’m also having some buyers remorse about getting the 6MT instead of a comp with x drive. I’m just hoping that this was just a one off and the issue gets resolved when parts are replaced. The last thing I’d want to happen is for the car to drive fine for another 5k miles once repaired only to fail again.

Curious to hear from other 6MT owners (particularly higher mileage ones) on whether or not they’ve also experienced similar difficulties.

Thank you for bringing light to this issue. I have a '21 G80 M3 Base with the 6MT. Around 8k miles, I started having the same issue. When I would put it into first gear and drive off, the shifter would pop out of the gate. I had this issue for months and thought it would resolve itself. Four months later, I actually decided to take it to my local BMW dealership. There was "resistance" going into first, as confirmed by the foreman. Turns out, the transmission was faulty. I never red-lined the car nor tracked it. After confirming with my sales advisor that I always short-shifted the car, he told me I would get a new transmission, and the factory warranty would cover it. FYI, it took about three weeks to get my car back